The End
Within Dividia (Relapse/Koch)
Never thought I would say this, but the controlled chaos of these current Exclaim! cover darlings from the 'burbs of T.O. rivals even that of Dillinger Escape Plan and the Locust, earning all the ink everybody's spilling on them. Despite their young age, The End are truly dictating the state of extreme music. Time signatures change at the drop of a hat, noise guitars shred, Aaron Wolf's larynx-stripping vocals pin the listener to the wall. Epic moments shoulder up to claustrophobic attacks, like the amazing calm before the storm in "The Sense of Revenue." Only eight songs here but there are 1,000 songs within the songs and all of them come across like a box-cutter fight in a phonebooth. Montreal's Pierre Remillard also proves here that he is the best metal producer out there right now. 9.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

The Special Goodness
Land, Air, Sea (Epitaph)
Weezer fans should dig this pop-driven coupling of that band's Pat Wilson and longtime RFTC drummer Atom Willard, as it's comparable in many ways to Wilson's main gig, but don't get too excited. Although not offensively bad, Land, Air, Sea just doesn't live up to the potential of the semi-super-group. The songs all have the big choruses, the boys don't get too wimpy at any point and Willard' still one of the best drummers in rock. But Wilson's shaky vocals don't hold up through 12 songs and, after the CD is over, you can't remember a single tune. SG commit the ultimate pop sin - writing melodies that just ain't memorable. 6.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Stereolab
Margerine Eclipse (Elektra/Warner)
All the familiar elements are present on Stereolab's latest CD - Laetitia Sadier's metaphysical madrigals (doubled up at times to fill the void left by late second-singer Mary Hansen), the softly pulsing grooves, the science-kit sound effects, the lush production, the clever morphing of the compositions. What makes Margerine Eclipse a refreshing release for the "groop" is its lively energy, almost urgent at times, and the particular clarity of intent. In fact, it is at points ("Margerine Rock," "Bop Scotch") the most rocking thing they've done, while moments like the disco-ducking "Dear Marge" are quite suited to cutting rugs. Even the real Stereolab-by-numbers stuff, like the opener "Vonal Declosion," stand above. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Notwist
Different Cars and Trains (Domino/Outside)
With everyone from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Numbers releasing dancercized manglings of their songs, it's no secret that the remix album is quickly becoming to 2Ks indie rock outfits what the unplugged album was to '90s pop groups. Here German post-rock unit the Notwist follow up last year's excellent Neon Golden album with this five-song remix EP. From the robotic pulses of the mix by Console (aka Notwist member Martin Gretschmann) to Four Tet and Manitoba's granulated vocal skips and live drum thumps, and Loopspool's sub-sub bass and echoplexed underwater dub, each remixer offers a fresh angle on the Notwist's delicate, introspective rockscapes. 7/10 (Raf Katigbak) With Themselves and Vitaminsforyou at Cabaret du Plateau, Fri., Dec. 6, 8:30pm, $16

J Xaverre
These Acid Stars (Memphis Industries/Fusion III)
This debut by one of Britpop's more obscure characters, Kenickie drummer Johnny X, sounds like a modern folk-pop fairy tale set in a barren landscape full of lush, detailed mirages and a few unusual mushrooms to munch on. Though poorly sequenced (weakest track first?), the songs are alright, but Xaverre's production (mixed by Wilco/My Morning Jacket associate Dave Trumflo), a slow, subtle meltdown of acoustic guitars, strings, e-beats and vaguely hallucinatory samples, is what makes the album worthwhile. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

The Elected
Me First (Sub Pop)
With formerly segregated genres shacking up like bunnies, and often producing smarter, more attractive offspring, electronic-emo-chamber-country just had to happen. The Elected is Rilo Kiley co-singer/songwriter Blake Sennett, his debut album touched by the wand of producer Mike Mogis. Steel guitars and lashings of banjo and harmonica make up the downhome end of the arrangements, wonderfully filled out by keys, beats, strings, horns and woodwinds. Sennett's gloomy verbiage and meek vocals rise up when anthemic choruses call for passion and, at least half the time, he offers songs and sounds to get passionate about. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Bar Mitzvah Brothers
Mr. Bones' Walk-in Closet (WeeWerk)
A co-ed trio of talented teens from Guelph, Ontario, barely out of high school, the Bar Mitzvah Brothers could be called out as the Muppet Babies version of Camper Van Beethoven. As much a matter of dirge-driven folk, palooka-centric polka, kindertronics and tickle-trunk innovation as it is a neo-naïve indie pop exercise, Mr. Bones' Walk-in Closet can't be faulted for uniformity, nor for lyrical opacity or self-conscious cool. On the other hand, it's really a kids' record for ex-kids and as such it runs the risk, particularly if coupled with such mitigating factors as, oh, a hangover, of getting on your tits so bad you want to strangle a baby harp seal or something. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Raekwon
The Lex Diamonds Story (Ice Water/ Universal)
"The neighbourhood loved and feared him. He organized a powerful elite with a cold heart and a hot hand." And with that, Raekwon picks up where The Sopranos left off. The Lex Diamonds Story does what very few Wu alumni have been able to do in what seems like forever, delivering a few tracks short of a crime story with teeth. Raekwon's ability to nail the gutter narrative is unmatched, and, yes, he's still got it. "Pit Bull Fights" and "King of Kings" featuring Havoc start this Rza-free album off, followed by standouts "Missing Watch," "Pa-Blow Escablow" and the lukewarm "Ice Cream 2." I still can't explain the Wu's strange attraction to throwing some dodgy, sentimental R&B joints on every album, but if you're a fan of Rae's larger-than-life, short and cocky POV, then you'll certainly drop a brick for this. 8/10 (Scott C)

Biz Markie
Weekend Warrior (Tommy Boy)
If patience is a virtue, the Diabolical Biz Markie is a saint. It's been a decade and some since the last disc from hip hop's large and lovable goof, and the lackadaisical, stumblebum pace of Weekend Warrior shows him in no rush to make up for lost time. If anything, he's championing lost time, recalling the days when hip hop was simple, casual and most of all fun. Expect obtuse rhymes about Chinese food, slack-ass party anthems, foolish interludes, cameos from Jazzy Jeff and Erick Sermon and of course Biz's karaoke-calibre crooning from this cheerful if hit-free effort. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Butta Babees
Urban Elo (Bandit/Dustytracks)
For years, many of us have enjoyed the effortless flows of Manchilde, easily one of the best MCs that this city has to offer. Standing tall on years of work in the trenches, Man, Ziplocks and DJ Raid have finally released Urban Elo, a long-time-comin' Montreal original that might just be the LP to rep our city in 2004. Yeah, some of the songs may be older, but a flip through the liner notes will show that these introspective raps bring us right up to today. My fave is "Swing," oozing along with sub-bass and Manchilde's lazy and precise style, to take things up yet another notch. Classics like "Understand Yourself," "Greensneakers," "Man n' Motion" and the recent "U Don't Want It" are more than enough to get you moving, and send the next man running back to the lab. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Voodoo Child
Baby Monkey (V2/BMG)
So here's the story: inspired by going to an "underground party" in Glasgow a couple of years ago, Moby decided to make an "underground dance record." Now, as he sees it, by using the name Voodoo Child he "doesn't have to worry about singles or videos or promotion or even record sales." He can just concentrate on what's important: making crappy music. Whether or not this is an attempt to regain some of his lost underground cred (whatever that is), the point remains that the music is duller than the fun fur on a 35-year-old raver's phat pants. While LFO's 2003 release Stealth rekindled the raw, visceral energy techno once had, Baby Monkey chooses to revisit some of the weak, watered-down emo moments of techno's past. 4/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Fefe Dobson
self-titled (Island/Universal)
The hype surrounding this one was so loud I could barely hear the music. But if you move beyond all the chatter and the whole Canadian-black-girl-doing-rock thing, it gets more interesting. Dobson's measured approach to tales of angst and defiance take on a harder edge when the subject of her absentee father ("Unforgiven") or insecurity ("Stupid Little Love Song") come up. But she softens with the promise of love ("Everything") or when a friend needs help ("Julia"). And, surprise, she even has a playful side, resurrecting rapper Tone Loc for the totally infectious "Rock It Till You Drop It." Forget the hype, Dobson's solid all on her own. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)

Bob Brough
A Decade of Favorites (RHB)
Bennie Wallace
The Nearness of You (Enja-Justin Time/Fusion III)
A pair of tenormen, both sadly underappreciated. Brough (pronounced like "rough") is an institution in Toronto and this CD is a document of some of his favourite work spanning the years '92 to 2001 and, other than John Lewis's "Afternoon in Paris," the focus is on original material. Artie Roth, Mike Downes, Barry Romberg and Bob McLaren are among the supporting cast. Wallace, meanwhile, is a Tennessee native and, in a program of standards including "Some Other Spring" and "Crazy He Calls Me," Kenny Barron and Eddie Gomez supply first-rate support. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Marc Copland/Gary Peacock What It Says (Harmonia Mundi/Fusion III) A dozen originals, great duo playing! 9.5 (LD)

Pilot to Gunner Get Saved (Arrco/Outside) D.C. rock done right, and produced by Jawbox's J. Robbins to boot! 8 (JC)

Tom Waits One From the Heart (Legacy/Sony) Finally, somebody re-releases this long out-of-print soundtrack by one of America's greatest songwriters ever. 8 (JC)

Thee Moths A Small Glass Ghost (Stolenwine) From the trans-Atlantic indie lab (Mtl, Dundee), two modular epics broken up by saccharine melody, tough digi-beats, smart rock and poetic droning. 7.5 (LC)

Myracle Brah Treblemaker (Rainbow Quartz/Fusion III) Lift and squeeze into this guitar-pop mould, set in a parallel universe where John Lennon fronts Guided By Voices. 7 (LC)

Various Fat Eyes Presents Dancehall Attack & Dee-Lite (Heartbeat) Don't let the slack cover fool you, this is two solid CDs of dancehall and highly conscious lover's rock featuring Wayne Wonder, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Beres Hammond, Cocoa Tea, Culture and Marcia Griffiths. 7 (RK)

David Banner MTA2 Baptized in Dirty Water (Universal/Rifkind) Reminds me of those WWF records where the wrestlers would cut tracks instead of staying in the fucking ring where they belonged. 6 (SC)

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